Primary Department: District Courts
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Richard Woods
Secondary Department: Choose an item.
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable):
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable):
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable):
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval to increase the salaries of appointed judicial officers, as a result of Senate Bill 293 enacted on June 22, 2025.
end
Background and Discussion:
Historically, the salary of a District Court Associate Judge is set at 90% of a District Judge with 0 to 4 years of service. With the passing of SB293, and Commissioners Court approval to increase the County supplement to $25,000, the new salary of a District Judge with 0 to 4 years of service is $200,000. To ensure their salaries do not exceed more than 90% of a District Court Judges' salary, they should be exempt from future cost of living increases to County employees.
10 Family Division Associate Judges
Texas Family Code ? 201.001 and 201.101 authorize the appointment of Family Division Associate Judges. However, the Commissioners Court determines the amount and pays the salary of Family Division Associate Judges, pursuant to section 201.003. The Family Division Associate Judges are full-time permanent positions fully funded by Harris County. This request is to adjust the annual salary rate for all 10 Family Division Associate Judges from $152,651 to $180,000.
2 Criminal Division Visiting Judges
Two retired District Judges are appointed to serve as full-time Criminal Division Visiting Judges to preside over the Responsive Intervention for Change (RIC) docket, and the Felony Mental Health Court (FMHC). Both positions are fully funded by Harris County. Effective September 1, 2025, by statute the salaries for both of these visiting judges should be equal to the salary of a District Judge with 8+ years of service ($235,000).
Judge Tommy "Brock" Thomas is the assigned RIC docket Judge. Previously named the Reintegration Impact docket, the RIC docket was created by the Harris County Criminal District Court Trail Division Order that consolidates nearly 5,000 low-level felony cases each year into a single docket. This high-volume consolidated docket receives cases from all 29 Criminal District Courts. The key performance metric is reduced recidivism rates for low-level offenders through diversion to therapeutic programs and community supervision or pretrial intervention. This request would adjust Judge Thomas' salary from $157,997 to $235,000.
Judge Mark Ellis is the assigned Felony Mental Health Court (FMHC) judge. Defined in the Texas Government Code, Chapter 125, the FMHC is a collaborative partnership between criminal justice partners that includes a network of community-based providers. This high-volume court targets offenders with a serious mental health diagnosis or a co-occurring mental health diagnosis and a substance use disorder. The budget for Judge Ellis' current annual salary is only $3,950 because a pool of visiting judges previously assisted with presiding over the FMHC. Judge Ellis is now the only Visiting Judge assigned to the FMHC and is consequently working a full-time schedule. This request would adjust Judge Ellis' salary from $3,950 to $235,000.
3 Juvenile Division Associate Judges and 1 Juvenile Detention Referee
Texas Family Code ? 201.001 and 201.101 authorize the appointment of Juvenile Division Associate Judges. These appointed judicial officers are full-time permanent positions fully funded by Harris County. Commissioners Court determines the amount and pays the salary of Juvenile Division Associate Judges, pursuant to section 201.003. Their salaries are set at 90% of a District Judge with 0 to 4 years of service. This request would adjust their salaries from $152,651 to $180,000.
County Supplement for 8 Juvenile Division Court Referees and 22 Visiting Judges
"Former" District Court Judges appointed to serve as part-time Visiting Judges are paid a nominal annual County supplement ranging from $450 to $3,950. Their appointments may be in any of the four District Courts Divisions (Civil, Criminal, Family and Juvenile). This request is for a 25% increase in compensation; adjusting the annual minimum County supplement from $450 to $562, and the maximum County supplement from $3,950 to $4,938 per judicial officer. The current $559,203 aggregate salary amount for these positions would increase to $657,502; a change of $98,299.
Expected Impact:
Increasing the salaries of these appointed judicial officers is critical for employee retention. Failure to retain the people in these mission-critical positions will result backlog while their replacements are recruited and trained.
Alternative Options:
Commissioners Court could decide to approve a lower salary and County supplemental increase, or not approve an increase.
County Strategic Plan Goal: N/A
County Strategic Plan Objective: N/A
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
Date
Agenda Item #
Action Taken
08/07/25
238
Approved salary increases for CPC Judge and CPC Coordinator.
07/10/25
99
No action.
08/06/24
182
Interlocal Agreement between Harris County and Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) approved by Commissioners Court about the CPS Court.
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
Fiscal and Personnel Summary
Service Name
Compensation
Current Fiscal Year Cost
Annual Fiscal Cost
Labor
Non-Labor
Total
Recurring Expenses
Funding Sources
Existing Budget
1000 - General Fund
$ 2,337,622
$0
$ 2,337,622
$ 2,337,622
Choose an item.
$
$
$
$
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$
$
$
$
Total Existing Budget
$ 2,337,622
$0
$ 2,337,622
$ 2,337,622
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form)
1000 - General Fund
$ 891,140
$0
$ 891,140
$ 891,140
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$
$
$
$
Choose an item.
$
$
$
$
Total Additional Budget Request
$ 891,140
$0
$ 891,140
$ 891,140
Total Funding Sources
$ 3,228,762
$0
$ 3,228,762
$ 3,228,762
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only)
Labor
Non-Labor
Total
No. of Grant Years
Local Match Source - Existing Budget:
Choose an item.
$
$
$
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request:
Choose an item.
$
$
$
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total)
$
$
$
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs)
Current Position Count for Service
-
-
-
-
Additional Positions Request
-
-
-
-
Total Personnel
-
-
-
-
Anticipated Court Date: 8/26/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 10/1/2025
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Richard Woods, Court Administrator, District Courts
Attachments (if applicable):
1. Judicial Salary Memo from Texas Office of Court Administration (6/24/25)